Nightmares aren't real
by Imagination Writer 247
Summary: After helping Katie, his little sister, on a mission, Nightwing is informed that she's having a lot of nightmares. Because of this new information, he noticed she's unable to stay alert and fast-paced during training. Plus, he was told she's not concentrating in school. Worried, he confronts her, unwilling to let her suffer from those nightmares any longer. One-shot. Not AU.


Nightwing looked over at Katie, observing her. He could tell that her eyelids were drooping, she was reacting slow during training, and she kept stumbling when she walked, meaning she was exhausted. He sighed in frustration, knowing why she was like this; Scarecrow's fear gas was affecting her.

About a week ago, Katie called him and asked for help in stopping Scarecrow from distributing fear gas all over Gotham City. Bruce would have went with her, but he was all the way across the country at the time and wouldn't be back until the fear gas was released, so Dick helped her find Scarecrow. Unfortunately, while he was busy taking down a few thugs, she took on the madman, who had managed to get her to inhale some of the gas. She was given the antidote after they had taken down the villain, but, for some reason, she was having nightmares still. What made it worse was that the nightmares were keeping her up at night, making it difficult for her to concentrate in school and on patrol with Batman.

He shook his head as she let Blue Beetle sweep her from underneath her feet, making her fall over on her back. He quickly walked over to them and picked up Katie, who was too weak to protest.

"I'm sorry, hermano. I thought she would have jumped over me or something," Blue Beetle apologized as he looked at Katie in concern.

"You have nothing to apologize for; you did good," Nightwing assured and carried her out of the mission room of Mount Justice.

He walked into a spare bedroom in the Cave and set her down gently on the bed. She glared at him and sat up. "I'm supposed to be training," she informed.

He took his mask off and sat down on the bed. "You are supposed to be training, but you're _also_ supposed to be sleeping," he retorted.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm fine."

"You're not fine. Those nightmares are keeping you from getting any sleep!"

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "The nightmares aren't any of your concern."

"None of my concern?" he scoffed and glared slightly. "You're my baby sister! Of course it's my concern! So tell me what they're about!"

"I don't have to tell you!" she retorted and went back to glaring at him.

"You will if you want to stay on the Team," he retorted back but immediately regretted it when he saw a look of hurt in her eyes. He didn't mean to say it, but he was so concerned about her health that he had been thinking about kicking her off the Team for a while now. She would, of course, be permitted to come back but not until she was her normal self again.

She frowned and looked down. "Really?" she asked in a whisper.

He frowned and sighed. "I want you to be entirely focused when on missions, training, and on patrol. If you're not focused, then you could get seriously hurt, and I don't want that for you," he replied, his tone sounding tired.

She sighed and looked up at him. "I really don't want to talk about it though."

He stood up. "Then, Katie, until further notice, you're officially on break from the Team."

She gaped at him and grabbed his arm before he could leave. "You can't do that!"

"I just did. Go home and get some rest. I'll tell Bruce that you need the next few nights off to focus on your sleep." He took his arm back, put on his mask, and headed for the door.

"Dick, wait." He looked back at her and noticed her now sitting on her knees and looking down at her folded hands. "They're about you," she whispered.

He gaped and widened his eyes as he stared at her. "About me? Your nightmares?"

She nodded. "I tried to save you-" she continued but her voice betrayed her by making her let out a sob.

He didn't need to hear anymore; he now knew something happened to him in her dreams, and she couldn't save him. He rushed over to her, sat down on the bed, and wrapped his arms around her trembling body, squeezing her tight. She cried into his shoulder as he rubbed her back.

"It's okay," he whispered into her ear, and she cried even louder in response. "I'm right here."

"You died-"

"In the nightmares; not in reality."

She whimpered and hugged him tighter. "Don't go anywhere, okay?"

He let her go and cupped her face as he looked at her. "Katie, one day I am going to die," he explained, and she let more tears fall out of her eyes. "But that doesn't mean that I'm going to be completely gone; I'll be in here." He pointed to her heart. "I'll be forever in there as long as you remember me."

"Of course I would remember you," she sobbed out. "What kind of sister would I be if I didn't?"

He brought her in for another hug and kissed the top of her head affectionately, feeling her brown curls briefly stick to his lips. "Just don't die yet, Dick," she begged.

"I won't die yet. I promise."

She nodded and let more tears fall onto his shoulder. "I think I'm ruining your uniform."

He chuckled at her for changing the topic. "I'm sure it's fine."

She smiled but then frowned. "Am I still off the Team?"

He pulled her away from him. "That depends. Is there anything you're not telling me about the nightmares?"

She bit her bottom lip and looked away from him. "Bruce took away my mask," she whispered. "He blamed me for your death and kicked me out, so I had to live on the streets."

He sighed as he closed his eyes for a brief moment and shook his head. "Why would he blame you for my death?"

"I didn't save you! Every time I grabbed your hand to stop you from falling, you slipped out of my grip and fell onto the hard concrete down below!"

He sighed again and tilted her chin up to look at him. "First of all, Bruce would never _ever_ blame you for my death. Secondly, he wouldn't kick you out and force you to live on the streets. He loves you very much, just like I do."

The fourteen year old sniffled. "You both do?"

"Of course we do!" he exclaimed, surprised that she would even ask that. "What gave you the impression that we don't?"

She sniffled again. "We don't spend that much time together and Bruce makes me stay home while he's out on missions."

Nightwing understood that; Bruce told him that whenever he took Katie with him on a mission, she usually got seriously injured, so he only took her out on patrol and they most likely separated to cover more ground.

As for him and her, she was right about them not spending a lot of time together. He was leader of the Team, he had school to go to, and he patrolled in his own city. He didn't really have any spare time for anything else. It was understandable why he didn't even think about them doing something together, right?

Although, now that he thought about it, he should have called her once in a while to keep the bond of brother and sister, not leader and rookie.

"You've been doing it too," she continued. "You make me either stay in Gotham or stay with you at the Cave while the others are out on missions."

It was true; he was keeping her from going out on missions because he didn't want her to get hurt, and, when he did, he hardly paid attention to her. "Listen to me," he whispered and held her hand. "Bruce and I don't let you go on dangerous missions; we let you go on the easy ones because you're new at this and don't want to see you get hurt. Would you want us to get hurt if we were in your shoes?"

She shook her head. "No," she whispered.

He nodded and squeezed her hand. "We only make you stay away from danger because we love you and want to keep you safe. I'm sure though that Bruce would let you come with him on a mission soon, and I will too once I see that you're ready.

"As for the two of us," he continued, rubbing a hand through his hair, "I'm going to do everything in my power to spend more time with you. Maybe when I do assign you to stay here while the others are on missions we can train together or something."

"Training? Seriously?"

"What? You don't want to go on missions?"

Her eyes widened. "No, I do! It's just that I train all the time now. I'd like to do something different."

"Like?"

She shrugged. "Maybe see a movie? Hang out?"

He sighed; he knew she would want something he didn't have time for. "Or," she continued, "I could come with you on patrol instead."

He smiled at her; that was better. He could protect her from getting hurt and possibly figure out how to train her better. Plus, he had time for it and he could talk to her more. "Patrol it is then."

She smiled and hugged him. "I love you."

"I love you too, little sis." He then stood up and held out his hand for her to take. "Why don't we get you home? It's almost dark in Gotham, and I bet Bruce would want to go with you on patrol tonight."

She nodded again and reached up to kiss his cheek before grabbing his hand. "Thanks, Dick."

"You're welcome."

He helped her stand up off the bed and laid his hand on her shoulder as he led her out of the bedroom.

As they were walking over to the Zeta-Tube, she asked, "Am I still on the Team?"

He nodded. "Yes, you're still on the Team. But if I find out that there's something you're not telling me, then you're taking a break."

She nodded. "Okay."

He smiled again and started up the Zeta-Tube. "Go home and get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Nightwing. I love you." She waved and ran through it, disappearing from Dick's sight.

"I love you too, Katie," he whispered and walked over to the center of the mission room; there was a lot of work to do.

* * *

 **Just something that came to mind one day. :)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice. I only own Katie, my OC. :)**


End file.
